While sitting in Dave's downtown Minneapolis church this morning I couldn't help but be impressed by the international flavor of the congregation. The parents of one of the beautiful babies being baptized were from Haiti so they had an interpreter. Very cool.
On the other hand, we had a funny but sad experience on the road this past week. We were staying in a Holiday Inn Express just south of Chattanooga. In the lobby we chatted over snacks with a man from south Georgia. He was a hard working guy - travels 5 nights every week selling heavy equipment.
And he did not like foreigners. "They should all leave this country!" I told him I was from Orlando and central Florida depends on the tourist industry to survive. "We love foreigners."
We continued to have a cordial conversation. He called me a Yankee but then apologized. I allowed as how I AM a Yankee and an American since I was born in Indiana but that "I'm not sure about that guy (pointing to Dave.) He was born in Malaysia."
"Oh, so you're not an American?" Dave (with his Minnesota white skin) gently explained that, yes, he was American because his parents (and about 5 generations prior to them) are from Kansas .
The guy wasn't convinced.
So we told him that if his son, who's in the Army, and his son's wife were sent to Germany and they had a baby.."your grandson wouldn't be German. He'd be American."
The guy still didn't get it. We said our goodbyes and his parting comment was "You wouldn't like 'em if they took your job."
I said, "I'm a Methodist. We like everybody."
***
On the other hand, we had a funny but sad experience on the road this past week. We were staying in a Holiday Inn Express just south of Chattanooga. In the lobby we chatted over snacks with a man from south Georgia. He was a hard working guy - travels 5 nights every week selling heavy equipment.
And he did not like foreigners. "They should all leave this country!" I told him I was from Orlando and central Florida depends on the tourist industry to survive. "We love foreigners."
We continued to have a cordial conversation. He called me a Yankee but then apologized. I allowed as how I AM a Yankee and an American since I was born in Indiana but that "I'm not sure about that guy (pointing to Dave.) He was born in Malaysia."
"Oh, so you're not an American?" Dave (with his Minnesota white skin) gently explained that, yes, he was American because his parents (and about 5 generations prior to them) are from Kansas .
The guy wasn't convinced.
So we told him that if his son, who's in the Army, and his son's wife were sent to Germany and they had a baby.."your grandson wouldn't be German. He'd be American."
The guy still didn't get it. We said our goodbyes and his parting comment was "You wouldn't like 'em if they took your job."
I said, "I'm a Methodist. We like everybody."
***
